A recent panel said the decision by Gov. Sam Brownback and Republican legislative leaders not to expand Medicaid is denying care to thousands and costing Kansas hospitals millions of dollars according to a recent article by the Kansas Health Institute.
Randy Peterson is the president and chief executive of Stormont-Vail HealthCare in Topeka. He said not expanding Medicaid eligibility to more low-income adults is largely responsible for a $10 million annual gap between what the reimbursement reductions are costing his hospital and the offsetting revenues that were expected.
“Any Kansan that is paying federal income taxes is subsidizing all the other states that have adopted Medicaid expansion,” said Maynard Oliverius, the former CEO of Stormont-Vail HealthCare, who moderated the panel discussion sponsored by Washburn University.
The panel was made up of Peterson, Oliverius, Cindy Samuelson, vice president of communications for the hospital association; Dr. Kent Palmberg, a Stormont-Vail senior vice president, and Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger.
